[Ads-l] French Dip

[Bill Mullins]

I ran across an article about Philippe's, a deli in Los Angeles that claims to have invented the French Dip sandwich in 1918.  
https://www.kcet.org/food-living/the-century-long-history-of-philippes-and-its-famous-french-dip-sandwich

There are some issues with the story.  It claims that the first customer of the sandwich was a fireman ("it’s a common misconception that he was a policeman"), but a 1951 story in the LA Times has an interview with the founder, Philippe Mathieu, and he said it was a police officer.  So things have been changed in the telling over the years.

The earliest cite I find is 
_Los Angeles Times_ 19 Oct 1930 sec 2 p 4 col 7
"No, Lucile, french dip sandwiches were not served at any of the Hearst banquets."

I don't see "french dip" in the OED, nor (oddly enough) at Barry Popik's site.
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org